Do you ever browse shops and look at the modern electricals and feel a rush of inspiration? A desire to have these items in your home? No, nor do I.

Modern fridges... Sterile white rectangles with a big plastic dip for a handle and selling features like an egg tray. Well for starters eggs shouldn't be kept in the fridge, and secondly these fridges are a miserable excuse for design.

I would love to replace my sterile white rectangle for a pretty retro fridge. I love those beautiful curved lines and the designers attention to detail, reflected in those big chunky space age handles. The only flaw with these chunky beauties is the terrible energy efficiency. So saving hard for a Shiny pretty Smeg it will have to be :)

To answer your question, a fridge is just a functional item to me but that doesn't mean it has to be drab looking. I miss the old styles. What drives me nuts though is why the fridges are so large now a days. We don't need that much room unless we are feeding a circus or something. I wish the U.S. would start adopting European fridges more. I know once my husband and I get our off the grid Earthbag/Cob house built we will be using a European fridge for sure.

I can't figure out if the comment about technology being more important than looks is sarcasm or not... but technology IS more important; the old fridges not only were terribly energy inefficient but also emitted CFC which is bad for the ozone layer. Also, they were built with latch handles which could trap children inside - people sometimes dumped their old fridges irresponsibly and unfortunately children who then entered them for games of hide and seek risked suffocating inside, there have been deaths this way in the past.

Depressing facts aside, they do look lovely, and I do wonder if appliance companies aren't missing a trick by building safe, energy-efficient fridges using retro designs. But if anyone is hanging onto their own fridges for whatever inane reason (aesthetics isn't a good enough reason), get rid of them responsibly and buy new ones. Even if they're ugly - the environment is more important and you can always paint your fridge to pretty it up.

I agree...some of us are just old souls...I can remember sitting in my mother's kitchen as a little girl and hoping that one day I would have a kitchen just like it...and I do...and whenever people come over they always comment on how vintage it looks...UGH!

What are you going to do...like what you like...and let people like what they like, right?

Bad energy efficiency? hm, even apart from how polluting it is to gather raw materials and manufacture and transport a new fridge (and dispose of an old one), older fridges were built way heavier thus having more insulation, so they have to turn on way less. Those energy ratings on the back of the fridge measure how much power it uses when it's actually running.

Maybe worst of all, any self-defrosting fridge (ie new fridges) actually use energy against themselves: how do you think fridges get rid of ice buildup? They have *heating* coils in their freezers, which their cooling systems have to work against! (The melted ice is evaporated in a little pan at the back of your fridge...aided by a fan which...surprise...uses more energy)

Plus you're lucky to get 10 years out of a new fridge, compared to 50+ years out of an old one.

If you think new appliances are more energy efficient, you're getting your information from industries or from GDP-pushing government propaganda, not engineers. (sorry, MAJOR hobbyhorse; this blog is a favorite guilty pleasure :) :) )

Thats wonderful Gabi. The freedom of having your own house is something else. You are a lucky girl as a homeownership is fast becoming a thing of the past , especially for the working classes. We will be a nation of renters in the future. You have made a shrewd move Gabi.

When I bought my house at 29, everyone said it would tie me down...it set me free. I have rented it out three times for vagabonding years out, it has worked so well for me. Now I'm nearly 50 and will pay off the mortgage in 6 years! Thought those 25 years would never end...

Mooon To Moon

Hi My name is Gabi and I am a nurse and mother based in Bristol, England. Moon to Moon has become my place to share my passion for chilled out, unfussy homes, hand made and vintage items and slow living.

** most of the pictures I have used have been from pintrest and tumblr, sadly many have no credit. I am slowly working my way through my past posts trying to add sources. If you recognize a picture please please drop me an email, or leave a comment in that post. Cheers Gabi xxx